No doubt about it.........

                                 shared from Hippie Peace Freaks


     I have been listening to some contemporary music recently while trying to build a running playlist.  Granted, some of it has a good beat, but it really can't compare.

Realization

                                         Hippie Peace Freaks

Memorial Day Bolder Boulder

     It has been many years since I have participated in the Bolder Boulder Memorial Day 10k.  I did it again yesterday along with 52000+ other people.  It was a gorgeous day....not a thunderstorm in sight.  It actually got quite warm as, it seems to me, Boulder is a heat-sink nestled beneath those Flatiron mountains. Homeowners and kids along the course were nice enough to spray runners with water hoses.  That really was welcome.
     The race does a tremendous job of organizing for that many runners plus the 30,000 observers.  There are 92 different start "waves" based on projected speeds.  They offer round-trip RTD bus service from 10 different locations to get to Boulder.
     The Elite race is wonderful.  If you follow running at all, you will recognize the names of some of the American elites.  Ryan Hall was the 2nd American male elite to finish. Shalane Flanagan came in 2nd for women.  Deena Kastor came in 4th.  Sarah Hall, Ryan's sister, came in 16th. An Ethopian runner won the women's race.  An Eritrean won the men's race.
     Frank Shorter, the well-known 1972 Olympian, manned the starting pistol for all 92 waves, ran the 6.2 miles to Folsom Field, then did the commentary for the elite racers. He is 66.
     The race is really fun.  Many people wear costumes.  Families run or walk it together. Bands and bellydancers along the way entertain you. There are 90 year-olds and 5 year-olds participating.  You finish in Folsom Field (the CU stadium), which, by the end of the morning, gets really full.  A okay, so-so runner like me can have an inkling of what it would be like to have a stadium full of people cheering for you.  We don't get enough of that in our everyday lives.
     The events finish with a wonderful Memorial day tribute with a fly-over, parachutists, music and more.  It brings a tear to all eyes.


                                 shared from BolderBOULDER, start of the citizens race

The view of Folsom Field mid morning

     Here are my results....not terrible, not great.  But I came in 46th out of 162 women my age.  I'll take it.  Now if I just actually trained for it, maybe next year I could break 70 minutes or even 60.  In running, like gardening and most things in life, there is always next year.
     Maybe you'd like to join me?  It is a lot of fun....a full day event.

question about results? Deborah  Johnson  bib number: MG319  overall place: 28207  location: Littleton, CO  division: F62  division place: 46 out of 162   gender place: 13286 out of 24705   mile 1: 11:36.46  mile 2: 13:17.04  mile 3: 13:32.40  mile 4: 13:18.38  mile 5: 12:33.21  mile 6: 13:17.07  net time: 1:20:14.84  pace: 12:54

Happy Memorial Day weekend

Enjoy your holiday, but take time to remember why we are having it.


The Light Within
                                     

   
                      Real Life Adventures

• Sat, May 24

                 
                   
                                      

 shared The Morning Playhouse's photo.

Happy World Turtle Day....May 23rd.

It's a real thing!  And I'm a turtle and proud.

If running were bad...

     Here is a Friday funny video for your holiday weekend, the subject being the truth about running.

 (email subscribers go to blog to see video)

I have mentioned Esther the Wonder Pig in a previous blog.  Here is a link to a Huffington Post article about her.  I love her.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/05/22/esther-the-wonder-pig_n_5371725.html?1400786304

Be positive

                  shared from Run Junkees


     It is hard to stay optimistic sometimes.  We've had 2 hail storms and one 12 inch snowfall so far in May in just the past 2 weeks.  Here is the start of the hailstorm yesterday.  My house has just been re-shingled and re-painted to repair the hail damage from last year.  I am afraid to go out to look for any damage.  Right now tree leaves are plastered everywhere masking what damage might lurk below anyway.  More thunderstorms and possible hail are forecast for later today, as well.  OMG....I'm flying.

Must be why I'm so tired.

                                shared from Intelligence is sexy

Why not?

                shared from run.around.aroo

"We can always count on Americans to do the right thing... after they've exhausted every other available option." — Winston Churchill

     This made me smile.  It is true.

Are you always hungry?

     Here is a link to an interesting article in the NY Times on research about why we are always hungry.  The solution, in my own simplification, is to not eat processed foods. That sounds pretty easy.  We need to bring back cooking into our lives.
    
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/18/opinion/sunday/always-hungry-heres-why.html?_r=0

"Poems, Prayers, and Promises"

                              shared from Be the change you want to see in the world


     This reminds me of the great song "Poems, Prayers, and Promises,"  with John Denver and his friends sitting around a fire watching the sun go down, talking about everything important in life.  I love this song.  I got to see John perform once back in 1975 or 1976, and always wished I could have seen him perform again before his death.
     This inspires me to try an experiment.  Family....next time we gather, let/s sit around by candlelight one night, or by a fire, and see how the conversation ebbs and flows.....to see how it changes.  I'd like that.

(email subscribers must go to the blog to see this video)

               

Tigger was crying

                                           Conscious Reality

      I love this.  I know it has been around before but needs to be seen again. This child is brilliant.  It took me years to realize what he or she picked up early on.  I don't do zoos or Sea World or aquariums any longer.  I support animal sanctuaries.

     There is a great Elephant sanctuary in Hohenwald, Tenn.
  http://www.elephants.com/


      There is a sanctuary here in Colorado actually near Denver.
 http://www.wildanimalsanctuary.org/


      Colorado also has a wolf sanctuary.
http://www.missionwolf.org/

      I follow "Esther the wonder Pig" on Facebook.  Two men adopted what they thought was a mini pig as a pet.  They also have 2 dogs and 2 cats.  Now they have Esther, who turned out to actually be a 500 pound full-sized pig, as a pet in their home.  Her/their story is wonderful.  She changed their lives and they are now in the process of starting a sanctuary for other animals. You will love the pictures of Esther. Go to Esther's facebook page, "Esther the Wonder Pig."

A recent photo of Esther on Facebook

Being the best turtle I can be....

     I am awesome.  It is only noon and I've walked the dog 3 miles, mowed the lawn, cut down the last of the broken tree branches from last week's heavy snow, and sawed them into 4 foot trash-can-size lengths. And I didn't fall off the ladder or out of the tree!
     Also, Charleigh and I were fortunate to be within a few yards of this cute yearling buck in someone's yard.  Do you see his baby antlers?

                                           Learn To Run Strong

   

A quote I have always loved

 
                             Hippie Peace Freaks   

"A generation from now, historians will laugh at us for being more afraid of Iran than climate change." David Atkins

      Here is a link to a news report on the collapse of the west antarctic ice sheet.

http://www.nbcnews.com/science/environment/west-antarctic-ice-sheets-collapse-triggers-sea-level-warning-n103221


      Here is another link to this ice sheet collapse:

http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2014/05/west-antarctic-ice-sheet-collapse?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+motherjones%2Fmain+%28MotherJones.com+Main+Article+Feed%29&utm_content=FaceBook




     It is scary stuff.

You're welcome

Snow Day

     You can plan a pretty picnic but you can't predict the weather for Mother's Day in Colorado.

Rain just changing to snow Mother's Day morning.

  Still snowing Monday morning.  No more blooms in sight.

Drooping trees are everywhere with at-risk branches.

Did you see this report?

     Our oceans will be empty of all fish by 2048.  That is within my (hopefully) life-time! This loss of species is happening fast and getting faster.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/salt-water-fish-extinction-seen-by-2048/   


      I will have to remember the meme below.  It is a good one.

                                  shared from Hippie Peace Freaks

Welcome to the club

                                       Distant Runners


     I am trying to get back to running more now that it is "spring."  It is hard to do.  Tomorrow's forecast for Mom's day....90% chance of snow, a high of 37 degrees.  The weather has not been cooperating.  I have been more human lately than I would like.

Friday Funnies

                                     Shared from Hippie Peace Freaks



                      shared from George Takei

Forever

This is a truism...sometimes time stands still.


                             Intelligence is sexy

Flashback

     I happened to hear this song today and it reminded me of long family car-trips back in the day when we all had to listen to the same music at the same time.  It gave my husband and me a chance to instill in our children the music of  "Peter, Paul, and Mary,"  "Simon and Garfunkel," "The Beatles," "John Denver,"  and of course, "Harry Chapin."
     I remember listening to this song as we drove across Pennsylvania on a trip to DC back in 1992.  Of course the kids hated it, but Dean and I liked its dark humor, and it kept us awake.

           

     The kids always got their revenge by playing this song as loud as possible while singing at the top of their voices.  They knew I disliked it back then.  Now it brings pleasant memories.

                                         (email subscribers must go to blog to view videos)

     I think I'll go dig up our Harry Chapin CDs.

Just stop and think. Please!

                                         shared from Intelligence is sexy


     The National Climate Assessment was released today.  Do you think people will finally start to pay attention?
      http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/07/science/earth/climate-change-report.html?_r=0

Missing those corny jokes

                             shared from Intelligence is sexy

Man

Man and his relationship with nature

                                        (email subscribers, go to blog to view video)

"O, wind, if winter comes, can spring be far behind?"---Percy Bysshe Shelley

     It is still windy and cool.  It feels like March rather than the first of May.  But there is proof that spring is here.  The wild plum thickets in the South Valley park are abloom and the scent is absolutely overpowering.  It makes you look up from the trail below your feet and consider things other than the trivial thoughts running through your mind.

And if you look closely, you can see the dozen or so deer at dusk grazing in my yard yesterday evening.  May is the one month of the year where my lawn is actually green and appears healthy.